


Cherry Wine

by academic_orpheus



Category: Hadestown - Mitchell
Genre: Alcohol, Domestic Violence, Hades gets MEAN, Post-Canon ?, not technically canon ?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-17
Updated: 2020-02-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:14:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22776226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/academic_orpheus/pseuds/academic_orpheus
Summary: After a night of drinking, Persephone pushes Hades over the edge. She knew he could have a temper, but when he lashes out it’s anger she’s never seen before. That’s when she realizes she’s never gotten him mad while he was drunk.
Relationships: Eurydice/Orpheus (Hadestown), Hades/Persephone (Hadestown), Hermes & Persephone (Hadestown)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 32





	Cherry Wine

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, y’all! First fic on here! I have a lot more, but this one was ready to go so here it is! This is post-canon, Orpheus and Eurydice are reunited and just visiting Hadestown for a little while.

The winter was a little less miserable with friends and spirits. By spirits, of course, Persephone meant alcohol. It wasn't cheap stuff, either. Only the best for her tight inner circle of drinking buddies.

Their alcohol tolerances varied drastically, from lightweight Orpheus whose head spun after a few drinks to the Lady of the Underground, whose personal record was 69 shots before promptly falling on her face. The mystic ways of a goddess.

Everyone was starting to feel a little of the influence. Orpheus has given up for the night, maxing out at three glasses of the best red wine any of them had ever tasted. His ears, cheeks, and nose were deep pink and he couldn’t keep his hands off Eurydice, who decided that his lap was far better than a chair. 

Hermès was getting there, in an awkward limbo between sober and not. He was very careful with his glass and made sure nobody got near him. “I just cleaned this jacket, and I am not getting wine stains on it again,” he announced, glaring pointedly at Eurydice. 

She giggled and downed what remained in her glass, reaching for the bottle as soon as she swallowed. And then there was Hades. He was too cool for wine, apparently, and would only drink his signature scotch whiskey. It was imported every two months, and so far he’d blown half of the dozen bottles in a single night.   
The bottles were rather small, but it was still a lot of booze nonetheless. 

Persephone was still going strong and decided to have a little fun. “Oh, Mr. Hades…” she sang, tapping the button of his nose with her finger.

He gave her no satisfaction, no response. She tried again. “Hades,” she repeated, this time gripping his thigh.

He nudged her hand away and took another sip of whiskey. Since nobody else wanted it, he didn’t bother pouring it into a glass and just drank straight from the bottle. Before he could finish, Persephone leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. Hades almost choked on his drink.

He cleared his throat, getting more and more annoyed with Persephone. A slight smirk appeared on her lips. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear before standing, hitching up her skirt, and sitting on Hades’ lap.

Their faces were nearly touching and Persephone could smell the smoky scotch on Hades’ breath. She wrapped her arms around Hades and wriggled around trying to get comfortable. Without any warning, Hades stood up, causing Persephone to topple over. He left abruptly and Persephone followed him like a hungry wolf stalking a lame duck.  
“Seph,” Hermès coaxed in a tone often used with small children.

She either didn’t hear him, or she ignored him.

Finally, she caught up with Hades. His face was very bright red.

“Aw, you’re adorable,” Persephone chuckled while stroking his silvery white hair.

“Persephone.” Hades was impatient with his orders.

“I just want to make sure you know I love you, honey,” Persephone sighed as she leaned up to kiss him.

Instead of his lips meeting hers, his palm met the side of her face.

She barely had time to register the fact that her husband had just slapped her as she felt another blow to her head. He landed a heavy punch right under her nose that knocked her to the ground. Hades picked up the empty scotch bottle at his feet and made sure Persephone didn’t go anywhere as he brought it down upon her head. He wasn’t satisfied until it shattered, so he threw it onto the ground beside her and let the shards fly across the hall in every direction.

Persephone felt like the ground beneath her was spinning, and for once it wasn’t because she was drunk. At least, not directly. She looked at her hand and noticed a fragment of glass stuck between her fingers. Gritting her teeth, she pulled it out and tossed it upon the floor before succumbing to unconsciousness.

“Persephone, please wake up,” a very nervous voice whispered beside her. Hermès found her passed out in the hall with rich golden ichor streaming from her mouth and nose, a bruise on her cheek, and little shards of glass stuck all over her hands and feet.

Persephone opened her eyes, squinting to adjust to the light. She startled when she saw Hermès. Her natural instinct was to run but she couldn’t. Everything burned, from her head to her feet.

“Seph, what happened? Do you remember?” 

Persephone couldn’t speak. She trembled and cried and Hermès could do nothing but talk to her. He was afraid to touch her, it was as if she was made of paper. 

“Hon, there are pieces of glass everywhere. Did you break a bottle and slip? Please tell me so I can get it cleaned up.”  
Persephone just shook her head no. Hermès had never seen her so disturbed and broken in all his life.

“I’m gonna ask Hades, then.”  
Persephone’s eyes widened at the name. She held her breath as Hermès left. 

He returned almost as quickly as he vanished. 

“So he doesn’t know either. Poor guy has an awful hangover. Says he blacked out last night, does that sound right?”  
Persephone nodded. 

“He got mad,” she said tremulously. “slapped me real good, too.” 

Her mouth opened just enough for Hermès to see an irregular gap in her otherwise bloodstained teeth.

“Wait,” he hesitated, trying to make sense of everything. “Hades hurt you? He did this?”

Everybody knew Hades was capable of very bad things, but not even Persephone would ever expect him to lash out and hurt her. She slowly nodded.

“Seph, he knocked one of your teeth out,” Hermès said tearfully. “Was all this glass his doing, too?”  
Persephone reluctantly nodded again.

“I swear, I’m going to yell his ass all the way to the Topside,” Hermès muttered under his breath.

“Hermès? Seph?” a deep voice resonated through the hall.  
Persephone curled up tighter, squeezing her shoulders in to make herself as small as possible. 

“What happened to her?”  
“You did, Hades! You got drunk and did all of this! Look at her! All covered in ichor and glass!” Hermès yelled. Persephone pressed her arms against her ears, trying to drown out the noise.  
The look on Hades’ face was the same shock Persephone showed when he slapped her. “Oh, Persephone,” Hades crouched next to his wife, reaching to touch her hair.   
“Don’t touch me,” Persephone hissed.

Hades stood back up and turned and left. It was as if he’d never been there. 

Persephone buried her head in her arms once more and wept. Her cries were loud and heavy, each one making her pain worse and worse. Ironically, what she really wanted was something to drink. What she really wanted was something to dull the pain. How dangerous that beautiful blood-red was. How wonderful it was, the conversation-starter, the drink of choice, the temporary relief it brought. How terrible it was, capable of tearing down worlds and wreaking harm if given to too few people in too large amounts. 

“I want a drink,” Persephone said, not entirely sure Hermès was still there.  
“You don’t need any more today,” Hermès responded.  
Persephone sighed, letting her head loll to the side. Winter was a miserable time for everyone, but for Persephone, this winter was the worst.


End file.
